Review: Orana

26 July 2018

When I was planning my trip to Australia, the one thing I needed to confirm before booking my flights was a restaurant booking. I had been researching Orana now for over a year, and something told me it was a restaurant I needed to visit — even if it means dragging myself across the world. I managed the booking, and planned my trip.

And tonight was it. I had a wonderful day trekking around this lovely town, and had lunch at the Central Market, where I found a Latvian food stall! It’s called The Latvian Lunchroom. What a wonderful surprise for this honorary Balt… More walking, and I was hungry for this dinner.

I arrived at Orana a little late, having had trouble finding the place…it was the unmarked door upstairs… But warmth from the staff immediately as I entered. I sat down and relaxed and the entire experience moved ahead quickly. I was really looking forward to this!

In fact, in a total coincidence, Chef Jock Zonfrillo had won the Basque Culinary World Prize just a few days earlier for his dedication to the Aboriginal communities of his adopted country. What a coincidence, since I had eaten at Leo, the restaurant of last year’s winner Leonor Espinosa, before she had won the same award. What a happy outcome! I was so blown away by my visit in July 2016 it was one of the best dining experiences of my life. I’m hoping for some of the same magic here tonight.

I enjoyed a little tipple as they laid out the evening for me, and I just smiled and said to commence. There was a little potato damper that they had just put onto the coals, as the first item was presented…

Mmm, this is delicious! I love macadamia, and thyme puts just the right little touch to it. Nice little savoury drink! Next up was the potato damper that had been cooking since I came in…

Worked really nicely, love the lamb butter. Could have had another, but things are moving along as a nice blend from Eden Valley is poured for the next course — oyster.

Nice, just briney enough to make it interesting, with a the blood lime a nice touch. Then quickly the cod is served.

Really nice, sourced from the Murray River, with a lovely sauce. The eucalyptus is surprisingly tasty! A nice start so far for sure. After a very short pause, the sommelier pours 2 different glasses of whites — to balance out the next series of dishes. I like this approach. First up in this set was the apple toast.

A cute little sweet entry here, combined with some kombu, with the lardo bringing it all home. Then next up is the kangaroo tail pie…

Mmmm, lovely savoury here, the native pepper is enchanging! I do apologise about some of the photos for this evening, as my phone refused to focus in the dim light, especially on darker items (like this)… Then the next course made me chuckle, the prawn roti…

Does this look like a cute fish to you? Almost too cute to eat! Really delicious, lovely quality prawn here. They encourage messy eating here, so it’s fun. Another excellent item. I switched back and forth on the wines as they brought different things out. Then finally, the last of this series, the squid.

This was fantastic, as the squid is cooked in beef dripping…just awesome. The wee bit of acid worked, and the “beach succulents” were a wonderful addition. Just a lovely combination of flavours here, one of my favourite dishes of the evening (and entire trip).

Wow, so far it’s worth the hype! I’m glad I focused my trip planning on this dinner! Not disappointed at all. The wine pairings have been generous and strong, and shows off some excellent local grapes. Then a wee bubbly is poured and that came with what looks like a gimmicky broth thing…

Oh, I take that back, oh my goodness the aroma… The local botanicals used here is just amazing, in a marron-based broth. This was pure delight for the senses… I could drink this all day. I could skip booze to drink this! Wow… Then next up was kohlrabi…

Now this dish shows off some of the unique stuff Australia offers that Chef learned from the Aboriginal communities, such as the interesting dorrigo, quandong and lemon myrtle. They create a fantastic set of flavour additions to the kohlrabi. Really an eye-opener here.

Although I wish we had more of the potato damper from the start, the bread is now presented and it’s definitely nice — and extremely useful later. I was saving my appetite as we have plenty to go. A sparking local white pinot is poured and we have the mud crab.

Oh my another amazing dish, the crab itself was already fabulous, but it’s again the native items that brought this into a new dimension. The essence of the bunya was fabulous, but the brush cherry was again a discovery — just a touch of sour to bring out the deepest flavours of the mud crab. Wow…

I was loving this evening, and it keeps going! A pour of a madeira from Portugal of all things, and we have the marron…

Oh delicious, far better than its relative I had in that disappointing night in Brisbane at Bacchus. The sauce, made from items such as ants and Geraldton wax, is just amazing…touch of citrus, full of depth. Oh wow, this was good. I used the bread to finish up the sauce, it was that good…and I’m usually not a sauce person!

At this point I know we’re coming to a close on the savouries, and the last item was soon presented, the kangaroo loin.

Wow again, this was cooked so well, and is so delicious. The roo meat you get elsewhere is just never that good, and (like lamb) it has such similar prep and flavouring. Here Chef uses wattleseed and other indigenous ingredients to help flavour the roo. But most importantly, as Chef himself explained, the broth here is made of EVERYTHING that was considered waste for this entire dinner. So everything from the opener to now, this broth covers it all. I love this philosophy, and it created something quite wonderful. I exhausted the bread supply mopping this thing up…so good…

I’m almost sorry it’s over! That was so bloody good I’m not sure how to describe it. Now I’m seeing why he won the award after Leonor Espinosa! I had a similar feeling of being totally blown away when I ate at her restaurant 2 years ago (and where I’ll be in a few weeks). What a happy coincidence!

A pour of the Jillungin tea from the Nyul Nyul people in the far west of Australia, and we have the first dessert…

Very interesting featuring paperbark, enhanced by macadamia and native honey. A wonderful tokaji pairs this nice dessert… Then for the final item, we have the buffalo milk…

Mmmm, this is so good, with strawberry and eucalyptus adding the extra dimensions to this. Oh my, what an end!

I don’t want this dinner to end!

This was fantastic. I had a wee chat with Chef again, thanking him for this amazing dinner. I can see why this place has been named the best restaurant in Australia despite how the “50 Best fan-boys” all chase a certain place outside of Melbourne. They’re missing out. This is REAL Australian food, and it had to be shown to the populus by a Scottish-Italian immigrant…

If anything, this is worth dragging myself half-way across the world. I’d happily do this again… I thanked the awesome staff (oh, if I’ve not mentioned, they were fabulous all night) and headed on out for the nice stroll back to my hotel. I’m a bit melancholic now, having grown to really like Adelaide but having to leave tomorrow…

Make a trip to Adelaide to visit Orana. You will not regret it. One of the top dining experiences of my life.

Orana
1/285 Rundle Street
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia